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Formation 12th century Mongolia was characterized by rivalry between many tribes and confederations In the 12th century the Khamag Mongol Khanate, Tatar confederation, Keraite Khanate, Merkit confederation, Naiman Khanate were five major Mongolic tribal confederations(Formation). The confederations of core Mongol tribes were transforming into a statehood in the early 12th century and came to be known as the Khamag Mongol confederacy.The Khamag Mongols occupied one of the most fertile areas of the country—the basins of the rivers Onon, Kherlen and Tuul in the Khentii mountains, and this was one of the causes of conflict between the tribes, as each tribe wanted more land(Formation). The first known khan of Khamag Mongol is Khabul Khan from Khiyad tribe, and he was most notable for successfully repelling the invasions of Jin dynasty. The Tatar confederacy first appeared in recorded history in 732. The Tatars lived on the fertile pastures around the lakes Hulun and Buir and occupied a trade route to China.During that time the Tatars experienced pressure from the Jin dynasty and were urged to fight against the other Mongol tribes. The Keraites were located between the mountain ranges of Khangai and Khentii. The Mergid confederacy was located in the basin of the river Selenge. Lastly, the Naiman confederacy was situated between the mountain ranges of Altai and Khangai. The Ongut tribes lived at the north of Gobi. Eventually, a very strong leader named Genghis Khan, was able to unit these tribes into one formidable nation. To do this Genghis Khan rose very rapidly through the ranks of his tribe and eventually defeated Kurtait, the most powerful Mongol Leader at that time. He then enlarged his state and created a system of laws for the Mongols he called this the Great Yasa(Formation). The Yasa provided necessary powers for taxation, and for all able bodied Mongols to take part in the great hunt to gather meat for the winter months. Genghis Khan with the help of his allies, who were his father's friend, Khereid, Toghoril, and his childhood friend Jamukha, managed to defeat the Merkit tribe, rescued his wife Börte, and went on to defeat the Naimans and Tatars. After his accomplishments and Genghis thus held the Khan title, which was the title given to rulers and officials in central Asia.However, Genghis Khan made a very controversial decision and created laws in which he forbade looting of his enemies without permission, and he implemented a policy of sharing spoils with his warriors and their families instead of giving it all to the aristocrats. These policies brought him into conflict with his uncles, who were also legitimate heirs to the throne; they regarded Temujin not as leader but merely an insolent usurper. This controversy spread around, and some Mongols who had previously been allies with him broke their allegiance to him and declared war on him. During the war Genghis and the people still loyal to him prevailed, destroying all the remaining rival tribes from 1203 to 1205 and bringing them under his rule. 1206 was the year when he assumed the title of Genghis Khan (universal leader) instead of one of the old tribal titles such as Gur Khan or Tayang Khan, marking the start of the Mongol Empire(Formation). History Of Mongol Empire Genghis Khan introduced many innovative ways of organizing his army, such as dividing it into decimal subsections of arbans (10 people), zuuns (100), Mingghans (1000), and tumens (10,000). Genghis also rewarded those who had been loyal to him and placed them in high positions, placing them as heads of army units and households, even though many of his allies had been from very low-rank clans.He proclaimed a new law of the empire,and codified everything related to the everyday life and political affairs of the nomads at the time(Mongol). He forbade the selling of women, theft, fighting among the Mongols, and the hunting of animals during the breeding season. In addition to laws regarding family, food, and the army, Genghis also decreed religious freedom and supported domestic and international trade. He exempted the poor and the clergy from taxation. He also encouraged literacy. However, Genghis Khan forbade Islamic practices like Halal butchering, forcing Muslims to comply with Mongol methods of butchering animals, and other restrictive decrees continued. Muslims had to slaughter sheep in secret.Genghis Khan directly called Muslims and Jews "slaves", and demanded that they follow the Mongol method of eating rather than the halal method(Mongol). Circumcision was also forbidden. From 1207-1209 the Mongol's conquered Siberia. This conquest was lead by Genghis's eldest son, Jochi. Most of the tribes submitted with little resistance, with the exception of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, who took several years to subdue(Mongol). The Mongol invasion of Central Asia took place between 1216-1221. The Uyghurs, Qarluqs and local Turkic and Tajik peoples submitted to the Mongolians, and the Mongolians set their sights on Qara Khitai. In 1216 Genghis Khan dispatched general Jebe with two tumens (20,000 soldiers) to deal with the Qara Khitai threat, lead by general Kuchlug. Jebe defeated an army of 30,000 troops and Kuchlug fled to Kashgar. When Jebe's army arrived at Kashgar in 1217, the populace revolted and turned on Kuchlug, forcing him to flee for his life once again. Jebe pursued Kuchlug across the Pamir Mountains into Badakhshan in modern Afghanistan.Eventually, a group of hunters caught Kuchlug and handed him over to the Mongols, who promptly beheaded him. With the death of Kuchlug, the Mongol Empire secured control over the Qara Khitai(Mongol). Next up the Mongols set their sights on invading the Khwarezmid Empire. It was not originally the intention of the Mongol Empire to invade the Khwarezmid Empire,and Genghis Khan had originally sent the ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire, Sultan Muhammad Aladdin, a message seeking trade and greeted him as his neighbor. However, he refused the offer and had all 450 of Khan's ambassadors killed. This put Genghis Khan into a fit of rage, and prompted him to attack the Khwarezmian Dynasty(Mongol). Thus the Mongols crossed the Tian Shan mountains, coming into the Shah's empire in 1219.In this invasion, the Khan first demonstrated the use of indirect attack that would become a hallmark of his later campaigns, and those of his sons and grandsons. The Khan divided his armies, and sent one force solely to find and execute the Sha. In this invasion, the Khan first demonstrated the use of indirect attack that would become a hallmark of his later campaigns, and those of his sons and grandsons. The Khan divided his armies, and sent one force solely to find and execute the Sha. It is safe to say that the Mongols out numbered the Khwarezimain empire in men and definitely possessed more horsemen in total(Mongol). Also the Mongols gained more men at almost every battle the won over the Khwarezmian's. This is because though the Kwarezmian empire was often portrayed as a strong and unified state, most of the Shah's holdings were recent conquests only nominally sworn to him, and this meat that the weren't loyal to the Sha. All in all, the Mongols were benefited enormously by the fragility of the Khwarezmian Empire. Another advantage for the Mongols was the fact that, compared to most of China, Korea, Central/Western Europe, and many other areas, Khwarezmia was deficient in terms of fortifications. In most of the empire there was no system of forts outside of the walls of major cities, and even the most important cities such as Samarkand and Otrar had their walls constructed out of mud bricks which could be easily reduced by Mongol siege engines. The first major city the Mongols invaded was Otrar. Unlike most of the other cities, Otrar did not surrender after little fighting, nor did its governor march its army out into the field to be destroyed by the numerically superior Mongols. Instead they the army remained on the walls and resisted stubbornly by holding out against many attacks. The siege proceeded for five months, until a traitor within the walls who felt no loyalty to the Shah opened the gates to the Mongols; Mongols managed to storm the now unsecured gate and slaughter the majority of the army(Mongol). After this victory, the Mongols went on to conquer the other major cities of the Khwarezmian Empire through seiging the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Urgench and eventually conquering them. After the Mongol invasion, the Shah's army was broken, and the Mongols had successfully taken over the Khwarezimian Empire(Mongol). By this time, Khan had accomplished things that few have done, and the Mongol Empire was the most powerful empire in the world. The Mongol Empire ruled from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea — an empire twice the size of the Roman Empire and Muslim Caliphate However, Genghis was also very old, and August 18, 1227 marked the death of Genghis Khan. Genghis named his third son,Ögedei, as his heir(Mongol). Among his first actions, Ögedei sent troops to subjugate the Bashkirs, Bulgars, and other nations in the Kipchak-controlled steppes. In the east, Ögedei's armies re-established Mongol authority in Manchuria, crushing the Eastern Xia regime. In 1230, Ögedei's Khan led his army in the campaign against the Jin dynasty. captured the capital of Emperor Wanyan Shouxu in the siege of Kaifeng in 1232.32 The Jin dynasty collapsed in 1234 when the Mongols captured Caizhou, the town where Wanyan Shouxu had fled. In 1234, three armies commanded by Ögedei's sons Kochu and Koten, as well as the Tangut general Chagan, invaded southern China(Mongol). With the assistance of the Song dynasty, the Mongols finished off the Jin in 1234. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, and this includes two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima. As the empire grew, Ögedei established a Mongol capital at Karakorum in northwestern Mongolia(Mongol). The Mongol Empire then set their sights on Russia. Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, overran the countries of the Bulgars, the Alans, the Kypchaks, Bashkirs, Mordvins, Chuvash, and other nations of the southern Russian steppe. By 1237, the Mongols began encroaching upon Ryazan,. After a three-day siege using heavy attacks, the Mongols captured the city and massacred its inhabitants, then the Mongols proceeded to destroy the army of the Grand principality of Vladimir at the Battle of the Sit River(Mongol). Next the Mongols aimed to conquest different parts of Europe. They started with Bohemia, a kingdom in Czech Lands. The people of the Czech Lands did surprisingly well, and when the Mongols arrived to attack Bohemia, the kingdom's defenses discouraged them from attacking and they withdrew to the town of Othmachau. Additionally, a Mongol commander was captured in a sortie near Olomou.After these failed attempts the leaders of this army, Baidar and Kadan went southward to reunite with Batu and Subutai in Hungary, and Bohemia remained one of a few European kingdoms that was never conquered and molested by the Mongols. Dominican friar, Julianus, was sent to King Béla with a letter from Batu Khan. In this letter, Batu called upon the Hungarian king to surrender his kingdom unconditionally to the Tatar forces or face complete destruction. Béla did not reply, and two more messages were later delivered to Hungary.Only then did King Béla call upon his magnates to join his army in defense of the country. He also asked for foreign help. Frederick II, Duke of Austria, gave foreign help the form of a small knight-detachment under the leadership of but it was too small to make a difference and change the outcome of the impending Mongol invasion. Additionally, although the Mongol danger was real and imminent, Hungary was not prepared to deal with it; in the minds of a people who had lived free from nomadic invasions for the last few hundred years, an invasion seemed impossible, and Hungary was no longer a predominantly soldier population.The Hungarian army arrived and encamped at the Sajó River on April 10, 1241, without having been directly challenged by the Mongols. The Mongols, having largely concealed their positions, began their attack the next night. A major Hungarian loss was imminent, and the Mongols slaughtered the Hungarian army. But while the Mongols claimed control of Hungary, they could not occupy fortified cities such as Fehérvár and Veszprém. Learning from this lesson, fortresses came to play a significant role in Hungary(Mongol). The subjugation of Hungary opened a pathway for the Mongol Horde to invade Vienna. Using similar tactics during their campaigns in previous Eastern and Central European countries, the Mongols planned to launched small squadrons to attack isolated settlements in the outskirts of Vienna in an attempt to instill fear and panic among the populace. Unlike in Hungary however, Vienna under the leadership of Duke Frederick and his knights, together with their foreign allies, managed to rally quicker and annihilate the small Mongolian squadron. After the battle, the Duke estimated that the Mongols lost over 300 to 700 men while the Europeans only lost 100. After the failed initial raids, the rest of the Mongols retired back into Russia after learning of the Great Khan Ögedei's death(Mongol). Following the Great Khan Ögedei's death in 1241, and before the next kurultai(political Council), Ögedei's widow Töregene took over the empire. She persecuted her husband's Khitan and Muslim officials, giving high positions to her own allies. She built palaces, cathedrals, and social structures on an imperial scale, supporting religion and education. She was able to win over most Mongol aristocrats to support Ögedei's son Güyük. But Batu, ruler of the Golden Horde, refused to come to the kurultai, claiming that he was ill and that the Mongolian climate was too harsh for him. The resulting stalemate lasted more than four years and further destabilized the unity of the empire. Eventually Batu agreed to send his brothers and generals to the kurultai, but not after four years. Also Genghis Khan's youngest brother Temüge threatened Töregene to seize the throne, Güyük had to come to Karakorum to try to secure his position. Güyük by this time was ill and alcoholic, but his campaigns in Manchuria and Europe gave him the kind of stature necessary for a great khan. He was duly elected at a ceremony attended by Mongols and foreign dignitaries(Mongol). Güyük took steps to reduce corruption, announcing that he would continue the policies of his father Ögedei, not Töregene. He continued military operations in Korea, advanced into Song China in the south and Iraq in the west, and ordered an empire-wide census. Not all parts of the empire respected Güyük's election. The Hashshashins, former Mongol allies whose Grand Master Hasan Jalalud-Din had offered his submission to Genghis Khan in 1221, angered Güyük by refusing to submit(History). However, in 1948, Güyük's Khan, sick and worn out by travel, died. His death was possibly due to poison. Güyük's widow Oghul Qaimish stepped forward to take control of the empire, but she lacked the skills of her mother-in-law Töregene, and her young sons Khoja and Naku and other princes challenged her authority. To decide on a new great khan, Batu called a kurultai on his own territory in 1250. The kurultai offered the throne to Batu, but he rejected it, claiming he had no interest in the position(History). Batu instead nominated Möngke, a grandson of Genghis(son of Genghis's fourth son Tolui Khan), who was leading a Mongol army in Russia, the Northern Caucasus, and Hungary. There was a general agreement in having Möngke Khan as the leader of the Mongolian Empire. However, The Ögedeid and Chagataid princes refused to accept a descendant of Genghis's son Tolui as leader, demanding that only descendants of Genghis's son Ögedei could be great khan. In particular, one of the other legitimate heirs, Ögedei's grandson Shiremun, sought to topple Möngke. Shiremun moved with his own forces towards the emperor's nomadic palace with a plan for an armed attack, but Möngke was alerted by his falconer of the plan. Möngke ordered an investigation of the plot, which led to a series of major trials all across the empire. Many members of the Mongol elite were found guilty and put to death, with estimates ranging from 77–300, though princes of Genghis's royal line were often exiled rather than executed. Möngke eliminated the estates of the Ögedeid and the Chagatai families and shared the western part of the empire with his ally Batu Khan. After the bloody purge, the power of the great khan's throne remained firmly with the descendants of Genghis's son Tolui instead of Ögedei(History). Möngke was a serious man who followed the laws of his ancestors and avoided alcoholism unlike his predecessor.He was tolerant of outside religions and artistic styles, leading to the building of foreign merchants' quarters, Buddhist monasteries, mosques, and Christian churches in the Mongol capital. Möngke's court limited government spending and prohibited nobles and troops from abusing civilians or issuing edicts without authorization.His court also tried to lighten the tax burden on commoners by reducing tax rates. In another move to consolidate his power, Möngke assigned his brothers Hulagu and Kublai to rule Persia and Mongol-held China. After stabilizing the empire's finances, Möngke once again sought to expand its borders. In the southern part of the empire, he continued his predecessors' struggle against the Song dynasty.His brother, Kublai conquered the Dali Kingdom in 1253 after the Dali King Duan Xingzhi defected to the Mongols and helped them conquer the rest of Yunnan, and Möngke's general Qoridai stabilized his control over Tibe. During a kurultais in Karakorum in 1253 and 1258 he approved new invasions of the Middle East and Southern China Möngke put Hulagu, his brother in overall charge of military and civil affairs in Persia, and Hulagu lead the Mongols through an invasion of Persia. In 1257 smaili Grand Master Rukn ud-Din surrendered and was executed(History). As a result, all of the Ismaili strongholds in Persia were destroyed by Hulagu's army in 1257. The center of the Islamic Empire at the time was Baghdad, which had held power for 500 years but was suffering internal divisions. When its caliph Al-Mustasim refused to submit to the Mongols, Baghdad was besieged and captured by the Mongols in 1258. After this, Hulagu had an open route to Syria and moved against the other Muslim powers in the region. His army advanced towards Ayyubid-ruled Syria, the sultan Al-Nasir Yusuf of the Ayyubids refused to show himself before Hulagu, and as a result his army was completely mascaraed. When Hulagu headed further west, the Armenians from Cilicia, the Seljuks from Rum and the Christian realms of Antioch and Tripoli submitted to Mongol authority, joining the Mongols in their assault against the Muslims. Some cities surrendered without resisting, whileothers such as Mayafarriqin fought back, and this caused their populations to get massacred(History). In the southern part of the empire, Möngke Khan himself led his army to complete the conquest of China. The Mongol force which invaded southern China was far greater than the force they sent to invade the Middle East in 1256. Military operations were generally successful, but prolonged, so the forces did not manage withdraw to the north as needed . Then things took a turn for the worse when the weather turned hot. Disease ravaged the Mongol forces with bloody epidemics, and Möngke died there on August 11, 1259. This event began a new chapter of history for the Mongols, as again a decision needed to be made on a new great khan. Mongol armies across the empire withdrew from their campaigns to once again convene for a new ruler of the Mongol Empire. Möngke's brother Hulagu broke off his successful military advance into Syria, withdrawing the bulk of his forces to Mughan and leaving only a small contingent under his general Kitbuqa.In a separate part of the empire, Kublai Khan, another brother of Hulagu and Möngke, heard of the great khan's death at the Huai River in China. Rather than returning to the capital, he continued his advance into the Wuchang area of China, near the Yangtze River. Their younger brother Ariqboke took advantage of the absence of Hulagu and Kublai, and used his position at the capital to win the title of great khan for himself, with representatives of all the family branches proclaiming him as the leader at the kurultai in Karakorum. When Kublai learned of this, he summoned his own kurultai(political council) at Kaiping, and nearly all the senior princes and great noyans in North China and Manchuria supported his own candidacy over that of Ariqboke. The battle for power after the death Möngke caused a massive civil war to happen in Mongolia. The civil war could be divided into two civil wars, Toluid Civil War and Berke–Hulagu war(History). Battles ensued between the armies of Kublai and those of his brother Ariqboke. Kublai's army easily eliminated Ariqboke's supporters and seized control of the civil administration in southern Mongolia. Kublai's new administration blockaded Ariqboke in Mongolia to cut food supplies, causing a famine, but Ariqboke rallied and re-took the capital in 1261.In the southwestern Ilkhanate, Hulagu was loyal to his brother Kublai, and clashes with their cousin Berke, the ruler of the Golden Horde in the northwestern part of the empire, began in 1262. Berk became suspicious of the deaths of Jochid princes in Hulagu's service, unequal distribution of war booty, and Hulagu's massacres of the Muslims, and this increased the anger of Berke. Berke also forged an alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks against Hulagu and supported Kublai's rival and brother, Ariqboke died on February 8, 1264. Berke sought to take advantage and invade Hulagu's realm, but he died along the way. Kublai named Hulagu's son Abaqa as a new Ilkhan, and Abaqa sought foreign alliances, such as attempting to form a Franco-Mongol alliance with the Europeans against the Egyptian Mamluks. Kublai nominated Batu's grandson Möngke Temür to lead the Golden Horde. Additionally,Ariqboqe surrendered to Kublai at Shangdu on August 21, 1264 and Kublai became the new ruler of the Mongolian Empire(History). After Kublai was elected Great Khan of the Mongols in 1260 he was eventually able to conquer the Song to the south, but at great cost. From 1260 to 1264, he faced civil insurrection within the Mongol empire led by his younger brother,Ariqboke. This led to the Toluid Civil War. Following Kublai's victory in the Toluid civil war, Kublai resumed his conquest of the Song Dynasty. A major confrontation occured between the Song Dynasty and Kublai's lead Mongol empire at the Diaoyu Fortress in Sichuan in 1265. The Mongols eventually defeated the Song land and naval armies and captured more than 100 ships.In 1268, the Mongol advance was halted at the city of Xiangyang. The walls of Xiangyang were approximately 6 to 7 metres thick and encompassed an area 5 kilometres wide. The main entrances in the wall led out to a waterway impossible to ford in the summer, and impassable as a swamp and a series of ponds and mud flats in the winter. . However, the Mongols under general Aju thwarted every attempt and crushed all reinforcements from the Song.After this victory, Aju asked Kublai for the powerful siege machines of the Ilkhanate. The engineers built the new siege weapons which included trebuchets, mangonels, and traction trebuchets as well. The introduction of these weapons in 1268 was decisive and allowed the Mongols to rapidly conquer fortified cities they had previously deemed untakeable later on. Next, Bayan of the Baarin, the Mongol commander, then sent half of his force up-river to wade to the south bank in order to build a bridge across to take the Yang lo fortress; three thousand Song boats came up the Han river and were repulsed, with fifty boats destroyed and 2,000 dead. This caused the Xiangyang's commander to surrender to the Mongol commander. The entire force, now including the Xiangyang commander, sailed down the Yangtze, and the forts along the way fell. In 1270, Kublai ordered the construction of five thousand ships. Three years later, an additional two thousand ships were ordered built; these would carry about 50,000 troops to battle the Song dynasty on the Han River. The Song fleet, despite their deployment as a coastal defense fleet more than operational navy, was more than a match for the Mongols. Under his great general Bayan, Khublai unleashed a riverine attack upon the defended city of Xiangyang on the Han River. The Mongols prevailed, ultimately, but it would take five more years of hard combat to do so. Kublai had founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271, and by 1273. Also the Mongols had emerged victorious on the Han River, and the Yangtse River was opened for a large fleet that could conquer the Southern Song empire. Resistance continued, resulting in Bayan's massacre of the inhabitants of Changzhou in 1275 and mass suicide of the defenders at Changsha in January 1276. Finally, the last contingents of the Song empire were heavily defeated, the old city of Jiankang (Jiangsu) fell, and Jia Sidao was killed. On March 19, 1279 the Mongols defeated the last of the Song forces at the naval Battle of Yamen. After the battle, as a last defiant act against the invaders, Lu Xiufu, a Song Loyalist, embraced the seven-year-old emperor and the pair leapt to their deaths from Mount Ya, thus marking the extinction of the Song Dynasty(History). The Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 were significant events in Japanese history. In 1266, Kublai Khan dispatched emissaries to Japan with a letter which stated that Japan become a vassal and send tribute under a threat of conflict. However, the emissaries returned empty-handed. A second set of emissaries were sent in 1268, returning empty-handed like the first. The Mongols continued to send demands, but each time, the bearers were sent back empty-handed. In 1274 the Yuan fleet set out with an estimated 15,000 Mongol and Chinese soldiers and 1,600-8000 Korean soldiers in 300 large vessels and 400-500 smaller craft along with several thousand sailors. The Mongol forces landed on November 19 in Hakata Bay, and on the following day brought the Battle of Bun'ei began. The Japanese were inexperienced in managing their large force, and the Mongols made significant initial progress.However, a typhoon competently crippled the Mongols army and destroyed many of their ships. Then the small Japanese boats which were much more swift and maneuverable than Mongol ships allowed the Japanese to board the remaining ships of the crippled Mongol army and defeat them(Szczepanski). In the spring of 1281, the Mongols sent two separate forces for a second attempt in invading Japan. However once again, a Typhoon crippled the Mongolian fleet, allowing the Japanese army to defeat the Mongols and cause then to retreat(Szczepanski). Major changes occurred in the Mongol Empire in the late 1200s. Kublai Khan, after having conquered all of China and establishing the Yuan dynasty, died in 1294, and was succeeded by his grandson Temür Khan, who continued Kublai's policies. However, at the same time, the Toluid Civil War, along with the Berke–Hulagu war and the subsequent Kaidu–Kublai war greatly weakened the authority of the great khan over the entirety of the Mongol Empire. As a result, the empire fractured into autonomous khanates, including the Yuan dynasty and the three western khanates (the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate). All of them became functionally autonomous. In 1304 the Chatagai ruler Duwa initiated a peace proposal and persuaded the Ögedeids to submit to Temür Khan, and all khanates approved a peace treaty and accepted Yuan emperor Temür's supremacy(Embassy). With the death of Ilkhan Abu Said Bahatur(ruler of Ilkhanate State) in 1335, Mongol rule faltered and Persia fell into political anarchy. A year later his successor was killed, and the Ilkhanate was divided between the Suldus, the Jalayir, Qasarid Togha Temür. and Persian warlords. Along with the dissolution of the Ilkhanate in Persia, Mongol rulers in China and the Chagatai Khanate were also in turmoil(embassy). The plague known as the Black Death, devastated all the khanates, cutting off commercial ties and killing millions. With the much of the Mongol Empire in chaos other leaders took advantage of Mongol Power decline and expanded their own influence by attempting to defeat the weakened Mongols. The Golden Horde lost all of its western dominions to Poland and Lithuania from 1342 to 1369. Muslim and non-Muslim princes in the Chagatai Khanate warred with each other from 1331–43, and the Chagatai Khanate state eventually disintegrated(embassy). As the Mongol empire reached its end, even the last Yuan ruler Toghan Temür was powerless to regulate those troubles. In the 1350s Gongmin of Goryeo successfully pushed Mongolian garrisons back and exterminated the family of Toghan Temür Khan's empress. Increasingly isolated from their subjects, the Mongols quickly lost most of China to the rebellious Ming forces in 1368 and fled to their homeland Mongolia. After the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty, the Golden Horde lost touch with Mongolia and China, while the two main parts of the Chagatai Khanate were defeated by Timur, who went on to establish the Timurid Empire(Embassy). 1368 marked the end of the Mongol Empire. However, remnants of the Chagatai Khanate survived; the last Chagataid state to survive was the Yarkent Khanate, until its defeat by the Oirat Dzungar Khanate in the Dzungar conquest of Altishahr in 1680. The Golden Horde broke into smaller Turkic-hordes that declined steadily in power through four long centuries(Embassy). Mongol Military Tactics Weapons The Mongols improved on Persian and Chinese weapons. Mongol cavalrymen carried maces, lances with a hook and snare, sabers, three-quivered arrows and a composite bow made of wood, sinew and horn. Strapped to their left arms solder carried daggers used in close range fighting. Perhaps the most prominent and deadly Mongol weapon was their bows. Mongol composite bows had a range of 250 meters, twice that of English longbows. The Mongols could fire up to six arrows a minute, and utilized several arrow and arrowhead designs, including long-range ones, short-rage ones and ones that could pierce armor. Another very effective weapon used by the Mongols was the use of their horses. The Mongol horses were best known for their role as the war steeds of Genghis Khan. Mongol horses made excellent warhorses because of their hardiness, stamina, self-sufficiency, and ability to forage on their own. Additionally, the horses provided the Mongol army with quick transportation, and an effective way to chase down their enemies . Towards the end of the Mongol era both soldiers and horses were protected in leather armor made from horsehide soaked in urine. Leather armor was lighter and more flexible than the chain-mail favored by Europeans. To protect their faces, Mongol cavalrymen carried small leather shields in their left arms. Also Mongols were the first to use gunpowder in battle, and during sieges the Mongols used mangonels, giant catapults, to hurl stones and other objects.(hay) Mongol Army/Soldiers The Mongol armies were the dominant force on the battlefields of Asia and Europe. Mongol forces, made up of skilled warriors well trained in marksmanship and horsemanship, were characterized by absolute discipline, a well-understood chain of command, an excellent communications system, superior mobility, and and a high level of organization. The Mongol army was the dominant military force of the 13th century(hay). Never very large, it relied on superior tactics and speed. In fact the core of Genghis Khan's army consisted of only 23,000 horsemen who fought with composite bows and hand axes and protected themselves with waterproof leather armor.Chinese and Middle Eastern engineers, experienced with catapults and other siege devises, were hired to attack fortified cities. Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great had similar-sized armies. There was no such thing as a civilian population in Mongolia. War was a full job and either you were a soldier and somehow supported a soldier. Discipline was established by the merciless enforcement of Mongol customs. Mongol soldiers were rigorously trained. To sharpen their fighting skills and get meat for a huge feast, the Mongols held an annual great hunt called a gorugen in which thousands of horsemen encircled all the game in a large area and closed in. Each man was allotted only one arrow; failure to kill an animal was met with ridicule. Additionally, Adulterers were killed and the kidnapping of women was discouraged (eliminating quarrels over women). Booty was divided equally among all the men, and any man who abandoned the battlefield was killed. Most of the warriors in the Mongol armies were Turks. Some Mongol armies were made up mainly of non-Mongols. The Mongols also recruited soldiers from the cities and kingdoms that came under their power.(hay) Mongol Battle Tactics The Mongols pioneered the use of feigned flight, surprise attacks, hostage taking, psychological warfare and human shields. Also the size of the Mongol army was exaggerated by placing dummies on the backs of horses and lighting strings of bonfires at night. In field battles the Mongols typically showered their enemy with armor-piercing arrows paving the way for a cavalry charge in which swift-moving horsemen hacked down survivors with hooked lances. A favorite military ploy was feigning retreat and luring the enemy into a prepared position and surrounding them with mounted archers or suddenly turning on the pursing army and raining them with arrows, while making an effort at going after their leader(Hay). Mongol tactics and mobility were so superior to that of their rivals, that often easily defeated armies that were several times larger than theirs. When attacking a large powerful city, the Mongols advanced on a broad front. They used this method during their attack on Samarkand and their invasion of Europe. Such tactics only worked if there was good communication. Mongol scouts would travel hundreds of miles to deliver or gather information. Messages for these scouts as well news from a large network of spies was relayed back to the khan and between commanders(Hay). Mongols Sieges Borrowing technology from the Arabs, Persians and Chinese, the Mongols greatly utilized the art of sieging. During the sieges of walled cities and fortified compounds, the Mongols shot flaming arrows, hurled vessels of oil and fired animals, 100-pound rocks, human corpses and fiery naphtha bombs. In the siege of cities in wooded areas Mongols sometimes built stockades for protection against enemy arrows and bombarded the city several days with catapults until the walls were breached. Moats and rivers were crossed with pontoon bridges and strings of boats tied together. Gates were battered with huge logs and ladders were used to surmount the walls(hay). Mongol Violence The Mongols are infamously known as brutal murders. Mongols took few prisoner and made few distinctions between combatants and noncombatants. The killing was often done in a very methodical way. The victims were not tortured they were killed as swiftly as possible(hay). A method they used to determine their method of punishment for a conquered city was After capturing a city, the Mongols would pretend to withdraw to determine if the surrender was genuine, If the Mongol representatives left behind were killed, Mongol soldiers would return to massacre the entire population. Enemy rulers were often wrapped in carpets and suffocated or trample to death by horses. Some officials were choked by having stones shoved down their throat(hay). Category:Browse